About Wolves

 

Physiology

Wolf is the largest wild dog of the northern half of the globe. Cousin to the smaller coyote and fox, wolves are thought to be the ancestor of all dogs.

Wolves range in size from 70 to 150 pounds. They are many colors, from white to silver, gray, red, brown, black or a combination. They have slanted, piercing yellow or gold eyes. Wolf fur is a double coat of long, hollow guard hairs that shed water, and small hairs, close to the skin. The legs are long, with enormous feet and thick footpads that won't freeze in ice or snow. Long toenails help dig a den and bury food. The large jaws have up to a couple thousand pounds of pressure, per square inch - the strength to bring down a deer, and crush bison bone for dinner.

 

Pack & Hunting Behavior

Wolves live in a pack, a unit of two to twelve family and extended family members. Like people, wolves are social and enjoy the company of their own. They are highly intelligent and, in the native tradition, known as a teacher. Their favorite foods are deer creatures - whitetail, elk, moose, caribou, buffalo, pronghorn, as well as small mammals. Wolves are carnivores, but they do like berries & grapes and eat fresh grass daily. Wolves cooperative behavior allows them more hunting success. An elk killed by several wolves will feed the pack for awhile. They definitely prefer their wild prey to domestic livestock. Unguarded livestock presents an opportunity for an easy hunt. This may train a wolf (or mountain lion, bear, coyote, or fox) to return for the easy kill or available garbage.

 

Control of Deer Population

At the top of the food chain, wolves cull out the weakest, leaving the strongest to reproduce. They keep the deer populations in balance, while reducing the quantity of weak individuals that are more apt to carry disease. Wolves presence reduces over browsing in the forest, and helps maintain healthy stream banks and meadows by keeping deer on the move.

Shy and afraid of people, wolves do not attack humans. If we feed wildlife, we may cause them to come into human settlements in search of handouts and garbage, creating problems that may end in the death of the animal.

 

Wolf Populations

A few hundred years ago wolves were common in the northern hemisphere, but an industrial and consuming culture has wiped them out of most of their original territory. With growing environmental awareness and passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, wolves have been returning in a small way to available habitat. Ongoing public education and government reintroduction have enabled wolves to return over the Canadian border and down the Rocky Mountain chain. Recently wolves have been killed by hunters in Maine and New York. There is a $10,000 fine for killing an endangered species. With extreme over-populations of deer in the northeast, habitat is ripe for the return of the wolves to the northeast wild corridor.